Shingling and rock lathing tool



March 14, 1950 A. J. CROOKSTON SHINGLING AND ROCK LA'IHING TOOL FiledJan. 3, 194'! .1412 ihonyl Craaksion %wm :1 gig Ma, m a

attornegs Patented Mar. 14, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The invention relates generally to hatchets and more particularly to alathers hatchet used for cutting rock lath, roofing material, and thelike.

Conventional hatchets used by lathers have a steel head with a hammerportion on one side and a cutting blade on the other side, and incutting rock lath and various kinds of wall board, the cutting edgebecomes dull rapidly and requires frequent sharpening. Moreover, incutting rock lath and the like, only the rear corner of the blade isused and the remainder of the cutting edge is ordinarily superfluous.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a noveland improved hatchet adapted for cutting rock lath and the like.

A more specific object is to provide a lathers hatchet having areplaceable cutting blade mounted on the blade of the hatchet.

Another object is to provide a novel lather's hatchet having a cuttingbladeadjustably mounted on the blade of the hatchet.

A further object is'to provide a lathers hatchet having a blade with apointed cutting edge adjustably mounted on the cutting blade of thehatchet in such position as to take the place of the usual corner of thecutting blade.

A still further object is to provide a simple and inexpensivereplaceable cutting blade for a lathers hatchet, which blade is easilymounted on or detached from said hatchet, and which is easily adjustedto cutting position.

These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, constructions andcombinations which comprise the present invention, the nature of whichis set forth in the following general statement, and a preferredembodiment of which is set 5 forth in the following description andillustrated in the accompanying drawing, and which is particularly anddistinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming parthereof.

In general terms, the novel hatchet compris- Referring to the drawingforming part hereof,

in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown by way ofexample;

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation of a Fig. 2 is a sectional viewas on line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view as on line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig, '1 showing a modified formof the replaceable blade;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view as on line 55, Fig. 4; and

' Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view as on line ii6, Fig. 4,.

Similar numerals refer to similar throughout the several views of thedrawing.

The lathers hatchet shown in Fig, 1 includes a wooden handle I on whicha metal head .8 is

' blade portion i 0 of the hatchet preferably has mounted thereon;

its rear corner rounded as indicated at I I, and the bottom edge 12 ofthe blade (which is nor mally its cutting edge) may be transverselyrounded as best shown in Fig. 3, or maybe the dull edge of an oldhatchet, because in the present hatchet no cutting is intended to bedone by this bottom edge.

The cutting edge of the present hatchet is provided by a replaceableblade it which is substantially rectangular in shape except for itsbottom rear corner portion which is slightly pointed as indicated at 54.The blade [3 is preferably flat and adapted to lie flatwise against orabut the side surface of the blade portion ill of the hatchet. The rearedge portion of the replaceable blade [3 is beveled to provide a cuttingedge [5, and the cutting edge it extends from the corner l4 upwardly asubstantial distance as shown.

The means for removably and adjustably hold'- ing the replaceable blade13 in cutting position alongside the blade portion it of the hatchetpreferably includes a plurality of set screws or clamping screwsindicated at It. The screws have their shanks threaded into the bladeportion IU of the hatchet and their heads overlappin and clampe ing theside edges of the replaceable blade l3. Preferably, there are two screwsIt provided for clamping each of the front and rear edges of the blade,and the screws may be slotted head screws as shown or hex head or sockethead screws, as desired.

In using the novel replaceable blade, it is quickly' mounted in acutting position as shown in Fig. 1 with the pointed cutting corner Itdepending slightly below the bottom edge E2 of the hatchet blade it, andat a position adjacent the rear edge of the hatchet blade. The blade I3is easily adjusted up or down for making shallower or deeper cuts, andwhen the-blade is dulled, a sharp parts blade is quickly substituted forthe dull one. The dull blades l3 are quickly and easily sharpened, andbecause of their low cost, a large number of the blades can be sharpenedand kept on hand for quick replacement during the lath cuttingoperation.

The modified blade indicated at I3a in Figs. 4,

5 and 6 is substantially the same as the blade 13 and has the pointedcutting corner Ma and rear cutting edge [5a, the only substantialdifference being that the upper portion Ila of the replaceable blade isslightly beveled flatwise so as to become somewhat wedge-shaped asindicated in the drawings. The result is that the two upper clampingscrews lBa have a wedge fit with the upper portion Ila of the blade, soas to prevent any upward slipping of the blade l3a with respect to thehatchet blade [0 during the cutting operation.

. The novel and improved hatchet construction is simple and inexpensive,easily mounted, adjusted and replaced. The novel hatchet is handy to usein cutting lath and provides for quickly replacing a dull cutting edgewith a sharp one so as to avoid loss of time.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are tobeimplied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, becausesuch Words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended tobe broadly construed.

Having now described the invention, the construction, the operation anduse of a preferred embodiment thereof, the advantageous new and usefulresults obtained thereby; the new and useful V constructions andreasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled inthe art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim; v

1. A shingling and rock lathing tool including a handle and a head onthe outer end thereof; said head having a blade portion extendingangularly from the handle and having a blunt outer edge, a flatreplaceable blade in flatwise abutment with one side of said bladeportion at the inner side edge thereof, said replaceable blade having adepending corner extending outwardly beyond said blunt outer edge andhaving a cutting edge, and means clamping said replaceable blade to saidblade portion.

2. A shingling and rock lathing tool including a handle and a head onthe outer end thereof, said head having a blade portion extendingangularly from the handle, a flat replaceable blade in flatwise abutmentwith one side of said blade portion at the inner side edge thereof, saidreplaceable blade having a depending corner extending outwardly beyondsaid blunt outer edge and having a cutting edge, and means adjustablyand removably clamping said replaceable blade to said blade portion.

3. A shingling and rock lathing tool including a handle and a head onthe outer end thereof, said head having a blade portion extendingangularly from the handle, a fiat replaceable blade in flatwise abutmentwith one side of said blade portion at the inner side edge thereof, saidre-. placeable blade having, a depending corner extending outwardlybeyond said blunt outer edge and having a cutting edge, and clampingscrews threaded into said blade portion and wedgeably clamping saidreplaceable blade to said blade portion for adjustably holding saidblade.

ANTHONY J. CROOKSTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 351,039 Brent et a1. Oct. 19,1886 747,827 Wolfinger Dec. 22, 1903 812,403 Brown Feb. 13, 1906 936,152OBrien Oct. 5, 1909 997,093 Robinson July 14, 1911

